Reconfigurable Antenna Array Testbed for Quantized Controlling

Abstract

Contemporary beam-forming antenna arrays often use a large number of individual elements, sometimes hundreds or more, to achieve high gain for advanced applications like radar, space communication, and next-gen cellular networks. These arrays are complex and costly due to the need for precise amplitude and phase adjustments across the elements. The feeding network complexity leads to signal losses, reduced efficiency, and higher noise. Current research aims to simplify arrays, reduce active elements needing frontends, and streamline the feeding network, considering non-uniform, sparse, parasitic, or reflective arrays. Challenges arise from element coupling and imperfect models of high-frequency materials and electronic components. Therefore, in addition to simulations, practical experimentation remains vital. This paper focuses on designing a novel 3 × 3 element antenna array with digital quantized control. We explore the impact of quantized control on beamforming and plan to validate simplified orthogonal optimization methods with limited quantization depth. The proposed antenna array is applicable to 2400 GHz band research, including arrays with parasitic elements and switchable polarization for individual elements.